Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
Texas Tech was hit with multiple penalties during their showdown with Kansas courtesy of the fans who ignored their head coach’s plea to exercise some restraint when it came to throwing tortillas. However, there’s also one spectator who may end up regretting their decision to chuck a knife at the Jayhawks sideline during the contest.
Most college football teams have at least a couple of traditions that define the gameday experience at their stadium. That includes Texas Tech, which has cemented itself as the Tortilla-Throwing Capital of America thanks to the fans who’ve been engaging in that particular practice since the end of the 1980s.
That largely harmless ritual found itself targeted during the offseason after the Big 12 voted on a measure to firm up a policy that allows officials to penalize teams if their fans throw objects onto the field (Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt was the only person who declined to approve the initiative that passed via a 15-1 show of hands).
Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire went out of his way to beg fans to keep that crackdown in mind ahead of his team’s showdown with Kansas at Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday, but flying tortillas ended up triggering two 15-yard penalties that didn’t have any major repercussions in their 42-17 win at home.
However, we were treated to a fairly heated handshake between McGuire and Jayhawks skipper Lance Leipold after the game, and police in Lubbock are taking a closer look at the incident that seems to have been the source of most of the latter’s ire.
Texas Tech police are attempting to track down the fan who was accused of throwing a pocket knife at a Kansas staffer
Leipold had a very testy exchange with McGuire after the two men met at midfield after the game, as the visiting skipper was caught referring to “bulls—t” behavior while airing some grievances about the number of objects that were thrown onto the field during the contest.
He got the chance to elaborate while addressing the media, and it seemed like he understandably had less of an issue with the tortillas being thrown than a pocket knife he said was hurled at a member of his staff during the third quarter.
Here’s Lance Leipold upset with the Big 12 about its handling of the thrown tortillas… and the pocket knife
video via @HenryGreenstein. Link below. pic.twitter.com/DxNMMMDwxX
— Mike Vernon (@M_Vernon) October 12, 2025
According to David Collier of Red Raider Nation, Texas Tech officials confirmed a (closed) pocket knife was discovered on the field before being handed over to the school’s police department, which subsequently began to review sideline video in the hopes of identifying the person who threw it.
Collier notes Texas Tech also reported the incident to the Big 12, and the conference is not expected to hand out a fine.